30 Easter Celebration Ideas, Songs & Poems

Easter is the pillar of the Christian faith. It is a time of hope, renewal, and this year, 2021, it is more poignant than ever, after a harrowing year for so many living through the Pandemic. 

Easter is the perfect time to offer comfort and hope to residents in care, their families and staff. Here are come fun ways to make Easter extra special.

14 Easter Celebration Ideas

1. Decorate the recreation area with large colored pictures of easter eggs, bunnies, chicks, bilbies, and white lilies.!
2. Facilitate an Easter Prayer Reflection at a convenient time. 
3. Search your local city for a Drive-in Easter Church Service and take some residents to attend.
4. Facilitate online services as an option for frail residents.
5. In your newsletter, ask relatives to share an Easter treat from their countries.
6. Watch the movie Jesus Christ, Superstar.
7. An Easter-themed raffle is a great way to kick-start your fundraising.
8. If children are attending: Host an Easter Egg Hunt outdoors.
9. Offer beverages and special treats to turn it into a lavish Easter Tea party.
10. Have residents/staff/relatives read out Easter poems (see below).
11. Hold a session to make and decorate Easter Bonnets with chick, and bunnies.
12. Buy or make Easter Lilys and give one to each guest to take home.
13. Have an Easter Singalong (list of possible songs below). 
14. Find an enthusiast photographer to take photos of families to place online and send families a link to download them.

Related: More Easter Activities

12 Hymns & Spiritual Songs for Easter

Hymns to sing

Find out residents’ favorite hymns to play on Easter. Here are a few beautiful ones to share: 

How Great Thou Art - Alan Jackson - 4 minutes

Abide with Me - King’s College Choir, Cambridge - 3 minutes

Worship Hymns to listen to

Live Easter Concert - Tabernacle Choir: “He is Risen” - 60 minutes

10 Gregorian Chants for Easter - 30 minutes

The Exsultet - 9 minutes

Handel’s Hallelujah - 4 minutes

The Lord’s Prayer - Andrea Bocelli - 4 minutes

Spiritual popular Songs for Singalong

Failing a professional accompaniment on the piano or guitar, look for your favorite version online and sing together.

My Sweet Lord  - Billy Preston - 5 minutes

Amazing Grace  - Peter Hollens - 3 minutes

I Don’t Know How to Love Him - Helen Reddy - 3 minutes

Only Time - Enya - 4 minutes

Everything’s Alright - Helen Ready - 3 minutes -

5 Easter Poems to Share

Easter
By A.E. Housman

If in the Syrian garden, ages slain,
You sleep, and know not you are dead in vain,
Nor even in dreams behold how dark and bright
Ascends in smoke and fire by day and night
The hate you died to quench and could but fan,
Sleep well and see no morning, son of man
But is, the grave rent and stone rolled by,
At the right hand so remember yet
Your tears, your agony and bloody sweat
Your cross and passion and the life you gavle,
Bow hither out of heaven and see and save.

Resurrection
By R. harvey

Ridiculed and mocked, nailed to a cross.
Each of his followers mourning his loss.

Set down from on high, placed in a cave.
Unmovable stone in front of his grave.

Roman soldiers guarded the solemn room,
Rejecting attempts to enter the tomb.

Entrance sealed so no one could steal
Christ's body, which had a great appeal.

Then on the third day, Mary could not believe
Inside the cave - no body to grieve.

On Sunday he was seen, it was said.
Now God had raised His son from the dead.

Easter Joy
By Joanna Fuchs

Jesus came to earth,
To show us how to l ive,
How to put others first,
How to love and how to give.

Then He set about His work,
That God sent Him to do;
He took our punishment on HImself;
He made us clean and new

He could have saved Himself,
Calling angels from above,
But He chose to pay our price for sin;
He paid it out of love

Our Lord died on Good Friday,
But the cross did not destroy
His resurrection on Easter morn
That fills our heart with joy

Now we know our earthly death,
Like His is just a rest
We’ll be forever with Him,
In heaven, where life is best

So, we live our lives for Jesus,
Think of HIm in all we do
Thank you Savior; Thank you Lord
Help us love like You.

On Easter Day
By Oscar Wilde

The silver trumpets rang across the Dome
The people knelt upon the ground with awe:
And borne upon the necks of men I saw,
Like some great God, the Holy Lord of Rome
Priest-like, he wore a rove more white than foam,
And, king-like, swathed himself in royal red,
Three crowns of gold rose high upon his head:
In splendor and in light the Pope passed home
My heart stole back across wide wastes of years
To One who wandered by a lonely sea,
And sought in vain for any place of rest:
‘Foxes have holes, and every bird its nest, I, only I, must wander wearily,
And bruise my feet, and drink wine salt with tears.

Hope
By Emily Dickinson

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the rune without the words
And never stops at all...

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little lBird
That kept so many warm...

I’ve heard it in the chillest land
And on the strangest Sea
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb of me...